DomaCom signs first agricultural deal
DomaCom has finalised its first global agriculture crowdfunding deal that is expected to give 90 retail investors a stake in property in Victoria’s Western Districts pastoral land.
According to DomaCom, the investors would receive an estimated combined income and capital return of 10 per cent per annum, based on historic returns.
The company also said it had managed to secure, prior to entering into a contract, a local operator to be a tenant and use the property to run beef cattle.
DomaCom’s chief executive, Arthur Naoumidis, said that the deal represented the first crowdfunding project for agriculture assets anywhere in the world.
“We knew from the Kidman bid that there was a thirst by ‘mum-and-dad’ investors to acquire agriculture assets, and we have been looking at other properties for quite some time,” he said.
“People are motivated by a desire to keep prime rural land in Australian hands, as well as the opportunity for steady yield and capital gain.”
Director at Elders Real Estate, which handled the sale, David Peardon stressed that the retail investors previously were effectively locked out from participation in buying into rural properties.
“But as DomaCom’s bid for Kidman demonstrated, where it received around $80 million worth of pledges from 5,500 investors, there is an enormous appetite by retail investors for this type of investment,” he said.
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